March 16, 2026 Outcome of the Second In-Person Meeting of the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group

　The Second In-Person Meeting of the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group was held in Tokyo (Hotel New Otani Tokyo) from Sunday, March 15 to Monday, March 16, 2026. The meeting brought together ministers, government officials and representatives from AI-related companies/organizations from the Friends Group (66 countries and region as of March 2026) and the Partners Community (38 organizations as of March 2026) that support the spirit of the Hiroshima AI Process.
　Building on the discussion in the First In-Person Meeting of the Friends Group held in Tokyo in February 2025, as well as international conferences on AI held intensively in the second half of FY2025 (including the “G7 Industry, Digital and Technology Ministerial Meeting” (December 2025, Canada) and the “AI Impact Summit” (February 2026, India)), the Second In-Person Meeting featured discussions led by Japan, joined by other members with multi-stakeholders from industries, academia, and governments on AI governance and social deployment. These discussions aimed at realizing safe, secure, and trustworthy AI, expanding and deepening the Friends Group and the Partners Community, including countries from the Global South, and promoting the global expansion of the AI ecosystem.
　As an outcome, the “Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group Action Plan 2026,” was announced to outline key initiatives to be undertaken voluntarily by the Friends Group over the coming year to advance AI governance and social deployment.

1. Event Overview

• (1) Dates
  Sunday, March 15 and Monday, March 16, 2026
• (2) Venue
  Hotel New Otani Tokyo
• (3) Co-hosts
  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Bank
• (4) Participants
  Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications HAYASHI Yoshimasa, State Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications HORIUCHI Noriko, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications MUKOYAMA Jun
  Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Strategy ONODA Kimi, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs SHIMADA Tomoaki
  Participating countries and region from the Friends Group: 34 (including Japan)
  Observer country: 1 (Brazil)
  Partners Community: 32 organizations
  Academic experts

  Total: 190 participants from 35 countries and region

  *Ministerial-level participation from 9 countries (Japan, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Norway, Indonesia, Peru, Finland, Switzerland) List of participating countries and others of the Friends Group and the Partners Community:

  https://www.soumu.go.jp/hiroshimaaiprocess/supporters.html
• (5) Main Programs
  • Opening Ceremony
    Message from Prime Minister (delivered by State Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications HORIUCHI Noriko) (English (tentative translation )
    Remarks by Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications HAYASHI Yoshimasa and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications MUKOYAMA Jun
  • Ministerial Keynote Speeches
    　Malaysia, Cambodia
  • Expert’s Presentation
    Professor MATSUO Yutaka, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
  • Multi-stakeholder Roundtables (AI Governance, Social Deployment)
  • Hosts’ Presentations (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, OECD, World Bank)
  • Breakout Sessions (AI Governance, Social Deployment)
  • Reception
    Remarks by Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications HAYASHI Yoshimasa and Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Strategy ONODA Kimi
  • Closing Ceremony
    Announcement of the Action Plan by Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications MUKOYAMA Jun ((English )
    Remarks by Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs SHIMADA Tomoaki
  • Exhibitions by the Partners Community and others (8 organizations)
    Autodesk Ltd. Japan, Fayston Preparatory School, Geek Guild Co., Ltd., Google, Microsoft Corporation, NEC Corporation, Salesforce, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)

2. Event Outcomes

• (1) Day 1 (March 15)
  　At the opening ceremony, State Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications HORIUCHI Noriko delivered a message from Prime Minister TAKAICHI Sanae, calling for co-creation toward the realization of a safe, secure, and trustworthy AI ecosystem. Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications HAYASHI Yoshimasa also called for collaboration, implementation, and action to achieve safe, secure, and trustworthy AI.
  　Following keynote speeches by Malaysia’s Minister of Digital Gobind Singh DEO and Cambodia’s Minister of Post and Telecommunications CHEA VANDETH, presentations on their respective initiatives were delivered by Professor MATSUO Yutaka of the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications IMAGAWA Takuo (host), and the OECD and the World Bank (co-hosts). In addition, the OECD announced the launch of a pilot version aimed at revising the Hiroshima AI Process Reporting Framework, while the World Bank announced the establishment of an AI Academy to support capacity building in countries of the Global South and others.
  * Hiroshima AI Process Reporting Framework
  https://www.soumu.go.jp/hiroshimaaiprocess/report.html
  　In addition, multi-stakeholder roundtables moderated by experts including Dr. HARAYAMA Yuko, Secretary General of the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) Tokyo Expert Support Center, were held. Exhibitions by the Partners Community and others, as well as a reception, were also organized, facilitating active exchanges of views among participants.
• (2) Day 2（March 16）
  　Presentations were delivered by, among others, State Secretary at the Ministry of Digitalization and Public Governance Marte INGUL of Norway. Following this, breakout sessions were held in which participants were divided into four rooms and engaged in discussions on AI governance and the social deployment for approximately three hours (Moderators: Ms. Audrey PLONK, Deputy Director of the OECD's Directorate for Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI); Dr, EMA Arisa, Associate Professor at Tokyo College, the University of Tokyo; Dr. Christine Zhenwei QIANG, Global Director of Digital Foundations at the World Bank's Digital Vice Presidency; Ms. Denise WONG, Assistant Chief Executive of the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore). Based on the discussions held over the two days, as an outcome of the Second In-person Meeting, the Action Plan was formulated outlining specific voluntary actions to be undertaken by the Friends Group over the coming year to advance AI governance and the social deployment. The Action Plan was announced by Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications MUKOYAMA Jun.

3. The Way Forward

　To realize safe, secure, and trustworthy AI, we will implement the Action Plan formulated together with the Friends Group and the Partners Community and contribute to the global expansion of the AI ecosystem.

(Reference) Hiroshima AI Process Website
https://www.soumu.go.jp/hiroshimaaiprocess/